The Quarter Billion Dollar Men: MLB Free Agency Signings
Back in the 70’s, a long, long time ago for many of you, there was a TV series called the Six Million Dollar Man. The premise was an astronaut who got seriously hurt, and although he didn’t die, he was pretty banged up. The government decided to put him back together with robot-like parts, and he turned into one of the first superheroes on the planet. A little corny, but who knew that $6M was not a lot of money in today’s sports world.
Within the last two weeks, being in that festive holiday spirit, the Boston Red Sox, and Arizona Diamondbacks (can you say cool new uniforms), spent a more than combined $500 million on two stud pitchers. Wow. That’s half a billion, yes with a B, dollars on a two arms, David Price and Zack Greinke – both in their 30’s – on multi-year contracts.
Let’s break this down a little bit just for fun. Both pitchers are clearly two of the best in the business, and have led teams they have donned uniforms for the past year to the postseason, but haven’t gotten that brass ring. Price, and the teams he has taken to the playoffs, is a combined 1-7 in that time. Greinke, is at least a little better in that category, going 3-3 in 3 playoff series.
OK, now that we have that down, let’s look a little deeper. They are both going to be making so much money per start, and per pitch, it’s a little unfathomable to the mere mortal – or fan. Not only that, it’s spending a king’s ransom on non-position players that may pick up the ball every 4, most likely 5 days. And, they are no spring chickens, by starting pitcher definitions.
Obviously, both the Red Sox and Diamondbacks are poised to take it to the next level. Fans in Boston don’t like being in the cellar, and certainly not behind the hated Yankees for any reason. The Diamondbacks did win a World Series in 2001, besting those Yankees in seven games, but it seems the desert is ready for the next level of success. This certainly does help both clubs in that respect, at least in the short-term.
Now, the $64,000 question remains, what is going to happen when super duper studs like Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, and you can add in Matt Harvey, become free agents? The first $400-500 million dollar player? These teams must be making money hand over fist, or the feds may need to check if they’re printing pictures of George Washington. We thought the Cubbies had the endless flow of change, but it doesn’t appear to be that way this year. Santa is going to be very good to some free agents, and the fans are already clamoring for spring.
You can’t begrudge the players, or their agents, for getting as much money as possible, even if those long year deals really make no sense anymore. For those with short memories, check CC Sabathia and his stats. Johnny Cueto turning down over a $100 mil with those same Diamondbacks? Did he know something that the rest of us didn’t know? I mean he’s good and everything, but did you see the way he pitched in the American League? He should have taken those bucks and ran and ran.
Who pays here? The fans do, of course. You and I who work our butts off to make a living, then try to go to these games – baseball games – with a friend, or our families, and by the time you get the tickets, parking, dogs, popcorn, refreshments, etc., you’ve taken out a second mortgage. Fair? Probably not, but the fans still go, sell out stadiums, and pad the pockets of those owners who say they don’t have the money to pay players. Sorry Met fans.
All I can say is, the Kansas City Royals, seem to have it right. Everyone said lightning couldn’t strike twice, and it did – two years in a row. Not a hefty payroll, no real stud like stars, no long, crazy contract, although a good thing in the BBQ capital of the world, can’t really last without someone paying. This team just wanted it more than anyone else; from the day they stepped onto the field in Arizona for spring training. So, if you must, you can probably find the Six Million Dollar Man on some old network for fun, but if the show was running, in our day and age, it would most likely be renamed the $6.00 dude.
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